


The Exorcism of the Gerasene Demon

by Polyhexian



Series: Humanformers: The Music AU [24]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Humanformers, Implied/Reference Suicide, Implied/Referenced Drug Abuse, M/M, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26531125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyhexian/pseuds/Polyhexian
Summary: Whirl brings Chromedome home.
Relationships: Chromedome/Rewind (Transformers), Cyclonus/Tailgate/Whirl (Transformers)
Series: Humanformers: The Music AU [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859230
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	The Exorcism of the Gerasene Demon

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm mapping out my vascular system," Chromedome answered, because it should be obvious. He didn't bother looking up from his work. He'd found a pack of coloured sharpies two hours ago underneath an overturned takeout container. "See, this is the median cubital vein, and-"

"Chromedome. Get up."

Chromedome squinted, frowned, then turned toward the speaker. 

The room was dark and hazy with smoke but she was backlit by the one lantern in the room, hands in her front pocket, hood pulled up over her face. Chromedome tilted his head at her. She hadn't been here earlier, but he still thought he recognized her. 

"Why?" he asked, his linework trailing off down his cast incorrectly. He looked back down at it and frowned. He needed to wash that off somehow. 

"Because I said so," said the woman, "you're coming with me."

"Where are we going?" he asked, "I wanna stay here."

"Where are you, Chromedome?" she asked. Chromedome squinted in thought and then looked around. He'd been floating around a few different places all week, and he wasn't completely sure where this one was or who he'd followed here this time. 

"Rodion," he answered, nonspecifically. 

"It's time to go."

"It's always time to go," he mumbled, turning back to the drawing on his cast, "Not quite enough yet, I guess."

"That don't make no sense."

"I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know," he said, turning his arm over as he drew, "I guess I'll know it when I see it."

"You think maybe you were waitin' for me?"

He looked up at her again. "Am I?"

"How 'bout you come with me and find out?" 

Chromedome frowned, and set his arm down. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I dunno. You kinda look like you want to. Are you?"

"Do you want me to?" 

Chromedome thought about it. "Maybe."

"Then maybe." She offered him a hand up. "Come on."

He took her hand, stood up, stumbled and fell on one knee, shaking his head. He felt off kilter, off balance, like the floor was a water bed and his knees were made of jello.

"Fuck," he swore, "Sorry, I dunno where the- I'm not-"

"Come on," she groaned, before she leaned down and threw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He was busy marvelling at how strong this woman was when she stopped walking and he heard another voice speak.

"What are you doing with that guy?"

"He's my brother," she said, and Chromedome frowned. He was pretty sure he was an only child but she'd said it with so much conviction he wasn't certain anymore, "I'm taking him home."

"Hey man," said the voice, "you wanna go with her?"

"Yeah," said Chromedome, "I think I was waiting for her."

"Alright, I guess," said the other voice, before he paused, "Hang on. Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Maybe," said his new companion, "I'm around." 

"You a Wrecker?" 

"No."

"Huh. I dunno. It'll come to me. See you around, then."

"See you around."

She started walking again, pushing through the back door into the overgrown yard. Chromedome traced the musculature of her back where he hung and wondered at how defined it was. He thought she might be dehydrated. 

"Oof," he said, when he was unceremoniously dumped into the backseat of a sedan, "Oh, man. You really are gonna kill me, huh?"

"Nah. Ain't decided yet."

She shut the door and he considered scrambling out before she got to the driver's side, but he couldn't think of a good reason to, so he didn't. She got in the car. She started driving. 

"Where are we going?" he asked, rolling onto his side.

"Where do you wanna go?" 

He rolled into his back and stared at the roof of the car, a cool grey fabric with dark speckled stains. "Nowhere."

"You can't go nowhere, needles."

"You ever just wanna curl up and vanish?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. I've felt that before."

"I can feel it all the time," Chromedome nodded, "Like, all the time, I just want to tuck into a ball and just curl on inward like a black hole forever until I vanish. It sucks, cuz like, you know people will miss you, you know?"

"Mmhmm."

"So you think I gotta at least give it a shot, but then you fuck it all up and make everybody wish you'd died in the first place so you don't even know what you're supposed to do."

"Nobody wishes you were dead."

"Only cuz they're too nice to," he sighed, "but at least then they'd remember you nicely."

"You wouldn't exactly know whether they remembered you nicely or not if you were dead though, huh? So what difference does it make to you?"

"I dunno. It matters."

"What else matters to you, then?" 

Chromedome stared at the ceiling. "I fucked up everything that mattered to me."

"So, you've hit rock bottom, eh?"

"And I'm here to dig!" he chuckled, throwing his hands in the air, "If I dig deep enough maybe I'll find hell, eh?"

"That's some emo shit."

Chromedome frowned. He'd thought it sounded cool. "So where are we going?"

"Back to your boyfriend's house, obviously."

"What!" Chromedome cried, sitting up with a jerk, making the car spin wildly in his head, "What? No! I don't wanna go there!" 

"That's too bad," said Whirl.

"No, let me out!" he said, grabbing at the door handle and fighting with it.

"Child lock," Whirl snorted, "Besides, I'm going sixty, don't be an idiot."

"No, that's- I don't wanna go back there," Chromedome repeated, swaying, "I can't go back there!" 

"Well that's too damn bad, huh? Cuz Rewind sent me to come get you."

Chromedome started to panic. "What? No, no, no, that's- no way, I can't see him again, oh, God, I don't want to- I won't go back, Whirl, you can't make me-"

"I sure as hell can make you," she scoffed, "You think I'm above breaking your legs if you make me? Sit down."

"No, no," he repeated, "You said you were gonna kill me! Fuck off!" 

"Oh, don't be so fucking dramatic."

"I'm not going back!" Chromedome yelled, surging forward between the two front seats and grabbing the wheel. He jerked it to the side and out of Whirl's grip and the car skidded off the highway and into the grass median with a shriek.

"Idiot!" Whirl cried, fighting him for the wheel, but his good hand was white knuckled where it clutched it and she quickly gave up, turned, and punched him right in the face over his left eye. He wailed and let go of the wheel as Whirl fought the spinout to keep the car from rolling over.

Finally it came to a stop on the median and Whirl jerked the car into park, turned toward him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"You stupid motherfucker," she growled, "Just cuz you wanna die doesn't give you the right to kill nobody else. Let's get this straight. I don't like you. I ain't here for you. I'm here cuz your boyfriend ain't stopped cryin' all week because your selfish ass ran off and left him. So if you really wanna kill yourself, do it like a man. Go home, tell him you're fucking sorry to his goddamn face and then shoot yourself like a normal person, but don't fucking piss about trying to get someone else to kill you. Quit pulling other people into your goddamn soap opera."

Chromedome didn't know how to respond other than to sniffle, eyes watering.

"Pathetic," she snapped, rolling her eyes.

"I can't, Whirl, he hates me," Chromedome hiccuped, sniffing. 

"He don't hate you," Whirl groaned, "And again. This fuckin' note shit ain't gonna fly. That's baby shit. You're a grown ass man. You're gonna go home and tell that man you're fucking sorry to his goddamn face, because if you piss off like that and kill yourself he ain't never gonna get no closure. He ain't never gonna get over it. You're stupid, but you ain't that cruel."

She let go of his shirt and he crawled back into the backseat, sitting cross legged and gently prodded at his eye where she'd hit him. "I don't want him to feel bad. That's why I left."

"Well good news, you made it worse. Buckle your fucking seat belt."

"Oh," he said, and fumbled to find the buckle, as Whirl turned to put the car back in drive, "Rewind sent you?"

"Yup."

"He wants me to come back?"

"Uh-huh."

Chromedome stared at the floor. "I'm an asshole, aren't I?"

"Sure are."

"Damn," he whispered, shaking. 

"So what the fuck are you on, anyway? You ain't on coke."

Chromedome squinted in thought. "I dunno. I didn't ask."

"You're such a fucking idiot," Whirl mumbled under her breath. 

"I dunno, it was like, uh, white and lumpy and I smoked it-"

"How much it cost?"

"Like sixty a gram."

"Upper or downer?"

"Upper. Like coke but like more than coke."

"Congratulations," Whirl said, voice dry, "You're on meth."

"Oh, fuck," said Chromedome, holding his crossed ankles, "That's bad." 

"We got like forty five minutes left to drive," she sighed, "Why don't you tell me about like, the vascular system or something."

Chromedome tried to explain it and found himself getting immediately distracted by the process, locked into a one track train of thought, focused as he moved from explaining the vascular system to the brain to describing in great detail a really interesting story he'd read about a brain tumour that was the size of a baseball. By the time he was getting to the biopsy results, the car was stopping. 

"We're here," she said, turning the car off, "If I let you out are you gonna make a run for it?"

"No," he said, "You're faster than me."

"Damn right I am. Are you ready, then?"

"I don't think I'm ever going to be ready."

"Close enough," she said, kicked her door open and crossed to the other side of the car, opening the child-locked door for him. 

He stood up, wavering slightly and feeling extremely small in front of the house he'd run away from. It was twilight, the moon rising in the distance against the blue-lilac sky. 

Whirl walked behind him, like a prison guard, until he got up to the door and he hesitated.

"Should I knock?"

"Just open it," she snorted.

Chromedome reached for the handle with a shaking hand, before he took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then pushed the door open and took a step inside. 

Rewind sat frozen on the couch across from the door, leaning against Tailgate. His eyes were wide, wet, red and puffy and sore from days of sobbing. For a moment neither of them moved, and Chromedome thought perhaps even his heart had stopped beating and waited. 

"Domey!" Rewind cried, shoving himself to his feet and stumbling the few meters to the door before he grabbed him around the middle, crushing him against his chest. He couldn't even stop himself from automatically returning the hug, wrapping himself around Rewind's back like he always did.

Chromedome had been fighting back tears all day, but they welled up and spilled over without the ghost of a chance to stop them. "I'm sorry," he croaked.

"You idiot," Rewind sobbed, "You stupid _fucking_ idiot, I thought you were dead!" 

"I'm sorry," Chromedome repeated, uselessly, beginning to tremble, "I'm sorry."

"I love you, you jerk! God, you know I _love_ you, how could you think I would ever _want_ you to just- to just-" 

"I'm sorry," he bawled as his knees failed him and they both sank to the floor, still clutching each other, "God, I'm so sorry-" 

"I've been so worried about you," Rewind sobbed, "I was _sure_ you were dead, Chromedome, I thought you'd done it, I thought you were _gone_ , I thought I'd never see you again-"

"I wanted to," Chromedome sniffled, "I _wanted_ to do badly, but I'm too much of a pussy, I'm sorry, I couldn't do it and I couldn't come back, and I-"

"Alright, you're done," Whirl interrupted, tugging Chromedome up by the back of his shirt as she kicked the door shut, "And didn't I tell you to stay in bed?"

"The doctor says I'm supposed to try to walk when I can," Rewind argued, and then stopped, bewildered, as Whirl hauled Chromedome to his feet, arms still reaching down for him. "What are you doing?"

"He ain't come down yet," Whirl answered, dragging Chromedome down the hall, "But when he does, he's gonna come down hard."

"What does that mean??" Rewind implored, stumbling to his feet as he tried to follow her.

"You think the withdrawals you've had so far were bad?" Whirl laughed, "Get ready for the worst day of your life."

"What are you-"

Whirl dragged Chromedome into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, locking it and yanking out a drawer that would prevent it from opening even if it were unlocked. 

"What are you doing!" Rewind repeated from the other side of the door.

"Sit," Whirl ordered. Chromedome sat down on the floor. "I'm babysitting. I'll give him back when he's ready. Don't come in here."

"Please let me in," Rewind begged, " _Please_ just let me sit with him."

"I want to go be with Rewind," Chromedome added. Whirl narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know what a meth detox is like. You can't handle that on your own. You're gonna kill yourself or run away again or say some shit you'll really regret. You can leave when you're sober."

"That could be days!" he gaped.

"Probably two, I figure," she said, sitting down on the floor near the door and leaning back against the wall, kicking her legs up on the cabinet. "Either we do it the easy way where you do your best to sit there nicely, or I zip tie you to the toilet. Your choice."

"Whirl, _please_ ," Rewind begged.

Whirl pulled a knife out of her pocket along with a little hunk of wood. "I need you to trust me on this one, boss. Go back to bed. I'll give him back when he's ready."

"I…" Rewind hesitated.

"No, she's right," Chromedome said, swallowing thickly, "I'll, um- I'll see you soon."

"Come on," said Tailgate, gently, beyond the door, "Whirl knows what she's talking about. Let's go make them something to eat, okay?"

"Oh, I'd love spaghetti!" Whirl called, then turned to Chromedome, "You eat spaghetti?" 

"Everybody eats spaghetti." 

"Fuckin' love spaghetti," Whirl repeated, digging her blade into the little piece of wood she'd brought with her.

* * *

Rewind was having a difficult time focusing on anything other than the fact Chromedome was downstairs. Whirl had virtually forbidden him from coming near the bathroom again but he could hardly think about anything else. The relief was overwhelming, but now he was fluctuating between rage and yearning and it was giving him heartburn. 

At one point in the evening he'd heard a terrific crash downstairs and Whirl yelling that devolved into bizarre, uncomfortable laughter. He didn't know how he could possibly fall asleep, but he did.

The mid-morning rose up to beckon him, still alone in bed and he curled inward, lonely. Whirl and Tailgate were passed out in the guest room, but the bathroom door was still closed, so Rewind had to assume Cyclonus had tagged in. 

He made his way into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. He was sitting at the table by himself, eating his scrambled eggs when he heard his front door open and automatically flinched. Panic began rising in his throat for a moment, before Brainstorm dipped around the corner and waved.

"Is he here??" Brainstorm asked, sounding like he'd run up the driveway.

"Whirl locked him in the bathroom," Rewind told him, "I'm not allowed to talk to him until she says so."

"What? Why?"

"He's coming down from everything he was on," Rewind said, staring at his plate and fighting off a wave of nausea. Brainstorm crossed the room and sat down on the other side of the table. "She said you don't want people you care about seeing you like that." 

Brainstorm frowned. "I guess." 

Rewind continued to stare at his eggs, the silence stretching long and becoming awkward, before he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Thank you," he said, quietly, "For staying with me."

Brainstorm blinked at him. "Of course," he said, tilting his head to the side, "You're my friend."

Rewind looked up at him and found his expression earnest. He was surprised- he hadn't actually realized Brainstorm thought of him that way. 

"Do you want some eggs?" he asked, since he didn't know what else to say. 

"Sure." 

Rewind pushed his plate across the table at him and Brainstorm cracked a smile.

* * *

By the evening he couldn't take it anymore and went back to the bathroom. 

"Chromedome?" he asked, softly. 

"Rewind?" he heard Chromedome cough. He sounded awful. 

"How are you doing?" 

"Uh," said Chromedome, "better than I was earlier."

Rewind sat down, his back against the door. "Are you okay?"

"Kind of," Chromedome wheezed, and he sounded closer, "I threw up a couple times." 

"Are you seeing bugs everywhere?" Rewind inquired, "I heard that's a thing."

"No. I've got a migraine, though." 

Rewind grimaced. "Do you want anything for it?"

"He can't have anything," Whirl interjected.

"I can't have anything," Chromedome repeated. 

"I missed you," Rewind said softly.

"I'm sorry," Chromedome whispered.

"I'm glad you're okay," he continued, "I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself."

"I wanted to," Chromedome said, voice wavering, "But I couldn't do it. Just like last time, I couldn't do it. I'm such a coward."

"You're not a coward!" Rewind gasped.

"I should have jumped that day," Chromedome said, sniffling, his voice rising in pitch and volume, "I should have jumped before you came, before I tricked you into caring about me, before I made everything so-"

"Alright," Whirl interjected, and Rewind heard shuffling and movement within, "You're done. He ain't ready, boss."

Rewind shifted and stared at his lap with a miserable grimace, before he stood up. 

* * *

Rewind was in bed when he heard a knock on the door and sat up, bleary eyed.

"Come in!"

Cyclonus pushed open the door and gave him a curt nod. "Whirl asked me to get a change of clothes for Chromedome."

"Oh, uh," Rewind frowned, "He won't fit in any of mine. Brainstorm's got a few things in the guest room and he'll fit in those. I haven't washed his clothes from the garbage yet."

"I'll run the laundry," she said, formally, and excused herself. Rewind sat up, rubbing his eyes, when he heard a thump, a yell, and the shower turn on down the hall. A few minutes later his door opened again and Whirl shoved in a shaky, damp Chromedome wearing a set of Brainstorm's clothes.

"He's done," she said, and shut the door.

Rewind stared at him for a moment in the dark room, lit only by the light coming in from the window over his bed. Even scrubbed clean he looked terrible, bruised all over, deep bags under his sunken eyes, skin a sickly colour. He looked deeply anxious, cast arm in a sling and kneading the fabric of his pants in his one shaky good hand as he stared back at him. 

"What are you waiting for?" Rewind asked, "Come here."

"Are- are you sure?" Chromedome asked, hesitating.

"Come here," Rewind repeated, holding his arms out, and this time Chromedome didn't argue, and crossed the room to crawl in bed with him. Rewind let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when he finally had Chromedome's head on his chest and his arms around his back, even if his full cast arm made the position awkward.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" Chromedome asked, voice quavering.

"I am _unfathomably_ angry with you," Rewind said, "that doesn't mean I don't love you." 

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't, baby, it's okay," Rewind soothed, petting the back of his head, "It's gonna be alright." 

"I'm sorry," he said for the thousandth time.

"I know," Rewind murmured, "I know you are. It's gonna be okay. We'll talk about it later. Just don't run away again."

"I won't," Chromedome replied hastily, "I promise I won't." 

"Then it's gonna be okay. We'll get through this."

"We will?"

"We will," Rewind echoed, kissing the top of his head and breathing into his hair, "I love you." 

"I love you, too," Chromedome said back, weakly, as if he felt guilty for saying so. They didn't say anything else.

* * *

"Come on- almost- careful, careful, okay-" 

Between the two of them, even with Chromedome down to one arm, he and Brainstorm managed to wrestle the mattress down the stairs and into the living room. 

"Thanks for the help," Chromedome said, grabbing the fitted sheet from the couch, and Brainstorm crossed around the mattress to grab the other side.

"You don't have to thank me," he said, pulling his half of the sheet to the other side, "Obviously I've got your back. You know that."

Chromedome paused. "Yeah. I know that." They finished putting the sheet on the mattress as Rewind came down the stairs carrying the comforter. 

"Hey!" Chromedome cried, "I said I'd get that!" 

"Oh, come on, I can carry a blanket," Rewind sighed, rolling his eyes. He threw the comforter down on the mattress and crawled under it. 

"I'm gonna grab the pillows, I'll be right back." Chromedome went back upstairs to retrieve Rewind's fancy down pillows and his phone charger from beside the bed. 

"Did you get my humidifier?" Rewind asked when he came back down and tossed him his pillows.

"In a second. Do you know where the extension cords are?"

"I'll grab the humidifier," said Brainstorm, heading toward the stairs.

"Thank you!" Rewind called after him, "You can steal the one behind the entertainment center, there's not a tv on it or anything." 

"I ordered a new one on Amazon this morning," Chromedome told him, grabbing the extension cord from behind where the old TV had been, "Maybe I should order more extension cords."

"That's a good idea." 

Chromedome ran the extension cord from a closer wall socket and plugged Rewind's charger into it so he could use his phone in bed. "Okay, bed stuff, phone charger, humidifier, anything else?" 

"White noise machine."

"You haven't used that in ages," Chromedome commented, "Where is it?" 

"It's next to the hamper," Rewind answered, "I've been having trouble sleeping." 

"I'll get it."

Brainstorm passed him on the stairs, and Chromedome heard him talking to Rewind as he turned into the hall. The bedroom looked stranger without the mattress on the bed, somehow wrong, alien. He grabbed the white noise machine and brought it back down with him. 

"Hey, CD, I've gotta get back," Brainstorm said, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Chromedome answered him with a weak smile. Brainstorm gave him a polite nod, and then hesitated, before he hugged him instead, and then went for the door. 

"See you later," he said, as he shut the door behind him.

"See you later," Chromedome waved, before he turned back to Rewind, "Do you want something to eat? I can make lunch."

"I'm not really that hungry." 

"It's no worry, I'll make something," Chromedome insisted, heading for the kitchen, "How about a sandwich? I still haven't had a chance to try out that panini press." 

"...Yeah, a sandwich is alright," Rewind sighed.

Chromedome pulled out some tomatoes and some chicken from the fridge and some bread from the pantry, methodically getting to work. He focused carefully on his work, slicing tomatoes on the cutting board. He unboxed the panini press and read the instructions before he grilled the sandwich and grabbed some V8 from the fridge to go with it.

Rewind looked annoyed when he came back, eyes on his phone. 

"Hey," Chromedome said, "I brought you lunch."

"Right," said Rewind, without looking up. Chromedome hesitated, before setting the plate down next to him and the V8 on the floor.

"Do you want anything else?"

"Not really," said Rewind.

Chromedome fidgeted. "You want me to grab the little TV from the guest room?"

"No."

Chromedome frowned. "Um, I can go grab your laptop if you want? Or I can go get you something else to eat if you don't want that, I can-" He stopped, as Rewind turned away from his phone to stare at him, his expression clearly displeased. "What?" 

"I don't want any of those things."

Chromedome cowed, pulling his shoulders back unhappily. "Well… what do you want, then?"

"Well, I'm in pain, I'm tired, I don't feel particularly safe in my own home and I'd really like my boyfriend to come hold me, honestly."

"Oh!" Chromedome cried, startled, "Okay." He crawled into bed under the covers beside Rewind and tucked him in against his chest. "I'm sorry."

Rewind softened, settling in comfortably with a sigh. "Thank you."

Chromedome was quiet. "Can you just yell at me now?"

"What?"

"Waiting for you to yell at me is killing me," Chromedome admitted, tightening his arms, "I know you're mad. It's been two days. Please just yell at me."

"We'll talk about it when you can handle it," Rewind murmured.

"I can handle it."

"You're fragile, baby," Rewind sighed, "I don't want to hurt you." 

"But you're upset," Chromedome implored, "It's not fair."

"It's not fair," Rewind agreed, "but it is what it is." 

Chromedome chewed his lip and then set his jaw. "I promise I won't freak out. I promise I won't run away or do anything stupid." 

Rewind groaned and sat up, shifting away and setting his forehead in his hand, "You really want to do this right now?"

Chromedome folded his legs and nodded. 

Rewind looked back at him and then sighed, closing his eyes. Chromedome waited anxiously, for so long he was starting to think maybe he should say something, when Rewind snapped his head up and spun around with a snarl. "You _stupid_ motherfucker!" 

"Ah," Chromedome yelped, startled, tensing up and leaning away.

"What the fuck were you _thinking?_ " Rewind yelled, "You _know_ what happened with Dominus, how _dare_ you do that to me again!"

Chromedome shrunk back, clutching his ankle in his one good hand tightly.

"I woke up in the hospital _alone!_ I got _shot_! With a _gun!_ And then I woke up and you weren't there! I thought you were dead, and then I find out no, you're actually totally fine! You just fucking _left!_ "

"I- uh, I broke my arm," Chromedome said, weakly.

Rewind grabbed his head and groaned, "Yeah, you did. You sure fucking did! A fucking cop told me you broke your arm to get out and help me! And how does _that_ make me feel? You break your arm for me, you call my insurance, and then you just _leave_ , how am I supposed to feel about that?!"

"I- I don't know. I just wanted to make it easier. I didn't want to leave you holding the bag."

"I know!" Rewind burst, "Because I know you _love_ me, and you still _left!_ You completely put it on me that you didn't want to leave but you were so fucking afraid of me you left anyway, you made it _my fault_ , so anything that happened to you was _my fault_."

"It wouldn't have been your fault, it would have been my fault!" Chromedome implored, "You didn't do anything!"

"That's not what it felt like!" 

Chromedome felt hot tears prickling in the corners of his eyes and it put a festering anger in his gut that he couldn't control himself when he had said that he would. "I didn't mean to make you feel like that."

Rewind took a deep breath and looked away. "I know you didn't. You're a notoriously dumb smart person, but you're not an asshole."

"...Thank you?" 

Rewind shook his head. "This can't happen again."

"It wo-"

"Listen to me, Chromedome," Rewind said firmly, turning around to look him in the eye, "This _cannot_ happen again. I love you, but I won't let you treat me like this. Do you understand?"

Chromedome swallowed, and nodded. "I understand."

"You said you didn't need to go to rehab, that you had it under control, and I let you do that. But you don't have it under control. You have problems and you need help with them. You can't do it by yourself," Rewind told him, "I need you to go to rehab. I need you to see a therapist. And more than anything, Domey, I _need_ you to be honest with me. I need you to tell me when you're struggling. I need you to let me help you. These are not requests. Do you understand?"

Slowly, Chromedome nodded. "I understand. I'll- I'll do anything… to make it up to you. I'll do anything you think I should."

"Yeah?" Rewind asked, warily, "You'll actually go?' 

"I will!" Chromedome insisted, in earnest, "I'll never miss a session."

Rewind's shoulders sank, as if relieved. "Okay."

"Okay?" Chromedome asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah. Okay," Rewind sighed, "That's it. That's all I wanted to say."

"That's it?" 

"I'm not mad at you for relapsing," said Rewind, "I'm mad at you for keeping it from me. I'm on your team, Domey. You have to let me in."

Chromedome swallowed and nodded again, knitting his eyebrows together. "I don't think I deserve you." 

Rewind softened and scooted forward to pull him into a hug. "You deserve to be loved, Domey. You deserve to be happy. You just need to _trust_ me."

"I trust you," Chromedome whispered, burying his face in his shoulder. "I trust you more than anything. I'll do better. I promise I'll do better for you."


End file.
